The One Where Joey Almost Gets Himself Fired
by FOREVERADISNEYGIRL
Summary: It's quite well known that Seto Kaiba always gets on Joey Wheeler's nerves, but the constant jeering, bad treatment, and attitude nearly costed Joey his job. Luckily for him, someone stepped in and saved him. NOT A PUPPYSHIPPING FIC!


**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!. Yu-Gi-Oh! is the property of Kazuki Takahashi, and are not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.**

Joey is not too happy serving Seto Kaiba his coffee this afternoon at the café. Though he loves his job at the Kaiba Corporation Café, he can't stand it when Seto Kaiba occasionally comes in. Sure, Joey knows for a fact that Kaiba owns the café and all cause his name is on the sign, but still. The young CEO is always provoking Joey every single time, and scowls at the site of him [Joey]. Most of the time, Joey just ignores all the jeers and goes on with serving Kaiba's coffee just to get it over with. After that, he goes on tending to the other café patrons. However, on this particular day something overcame Joey and this incident nearly costed him his job.

This all began at 11:00 AM sharp, the café doors swung open and in came two boys with a commanding aura to them. Immediately the café's atmosphere changed and all the customers began to murmur nervously amongst themselves. It was almost as if they feared something, but could not place a finger as to what the lingering fear could be. Regardless, everyone pretty much carried on as if nothing had happened at all. After the doors closed behind these two boys, they begin walking towards their usual spot at the café. At this particular spot, towards the center stood a shelf-like wall and on it, a large black and blue sign saying _Kaiba Corporation Café_ hung from there. Unbeknownst to the general public, the older looking boy Seto Kaiba purposely chose that spot. Why? To make himself look like a fearful CEO. Of course, he is one already, but for some reason, Kaiba likes to extend his powers at the café too.

Accompanying the elder Kaiba would be his younger brother Mokuba. Both brothers finally reach their usual place and sat down in the comfortable recliners and couches. Kaiba being the impatient person that is, immediately barks out his order and it's no surprise who he picks among the café staff.

"Wheeler! Fetch me an espresso no sugar or cream. Oh, and while you're at it see to it Mokuba gets a Baby Dragon Spritzer." Unfortunately, for anyone who has to dealt with Kaiba, he's not the type to say please or thank you. Unless you're Mokuba, everyone else didn't really matter to the CEO.

On top of having to prepare for the incoming lunch rush, Joey had to deal with Mr. "I'm-So-Rich-Therefore-I-Can-Treat-Everyone-However-I-Like-By-Ordering-Them-Around." As much as Joey wanted to retort back, he held his tongue and instead said, "Sure, Kaiba. Ya orders are comin' right up!" with a huge grin on his face. Joey almost felt like he could get sick. Never had he sounded so fake in his life. The only reason why he was acting like this is because of Seto Kaiba. After getting over his fake it till you make act, Joey headed back towards the kitchen to prepare the Kaiba brothers' drinks.

When Mokuba made sure Joey was out of earshot, he turns and faces his brother with a look of disdain. "Big Brother, was that really necessary?"

Looking up, Kaiba gave a sideways glance at Mokuba unsure of what his little brother meant. "What are you talking about, Mokuba?"

Giving a long and heavy sigh, he gives an incredulous look and says, "You know exactly what I'm talking about Seto. Don't even try to pretend with me."

Kaiba, still didn't understand what Mokuba was trying to say. "Mokuba, what are you talking about?" he repeated once more.

Getting exasperated with Seto, Mokuba nearly shouted. "I'm talking about you treating Joey very badly. Out of all the staff here, you always pick on him for no reason at all. In case you haven't notice dear brother, Joey is not happy whenever you come in to the café."

Kaiba was stunned. Him and Mokuba were very close and it is rare for Seto Kaiba to see his brother this upset. Immediately he responded, "So what? Joey is technically my employee so I can pretty much treat him how I see fit. The mutt always listens and that satisfies me."

Mokuba was this close to losing it. He wanted to reach over the table and slap his brother across the face. "You don't get it, do you? You can't see it, can you? How you treat Joey is wrong big brother and he like everyone else, deserves respect. Joey is not some dog you can simply order around to do your bidding. He is a hard-working person and to be frank, literally the best barista here."

After saying all of that to Seto, Mokuba plopped into his recliner and looked up towards the ceiling. He gave another heavy, long sigh. The younger Kaiba did not like giving lectures or scolding people in general, but it had to be done. How else would Seto learn why some people despise him so much? Also, this was an opportunity to get him to gradually change his behavior and demeanor towards people too. "I sure hope, Seto would open his eyes and see the error of his ways someday. But when will that day come?", Mokuba thought to himself. Little did the younger Kaiba know, his older brother was about to have karma bite right back at him.

A little while later, Joey emerged from the kitchen with two drinks on a duel disk tray strapped to his wrist. All staff who served food and drinks to the customers wore them. It was basically a cool feature unique only to the Kaiba Corporation Café and all of the customers loved it. As Joey was heading towards the Kaiba brothers' table, he was fuming all over in his head. "Dat Kaiba! Who does he think he is ta boss people around like dat?" Realizing how angry he probably looked, Joey took a few deep breaths to hopefully calm himself down. Getting angry will only satisfy the jerk and there was no way Joey was giving any of it today.

At last, Joey reached the table where both brothers are sitting and set down their drinks. "OK, let's see here. A caffè espresso with no cream or sugar for you, and a Baby Dragon Spritzer for Mokuba. Anything else I can get for you two?" Joey didn't want to ask, but out of common courtesy as a barista, he was pretty much obliged to.

Kaiba, turning towards Joey gave him a not-so-nice smirk and said, "Well, now that you mention, yes. There is something else I would like to request. If it isn't too much for you mutt, I would like to have an expresso with cream and sugar." After making such a gloat, Kaiba gave a nearly maniacal laughed and it caused everyone to quiet down and stare over at his table.

On Joey's face, a very dark look clouded his features and both of his hands balled into fists. He was trembling with anger all over and any tolerance inside of him left right then and there. Without even thinking, Joey grabbed Seto Kaiba by the collar and shoved him against the wall. "Dat's it Money Bags! I'd just had about enough of your attitude. I go through all that trouble of making that damn expresso for ya, and this is it? This is how ya show graditude?" Joey at the moment, was someone you did not want to mess with especially when his has a temper going on. Without any hesitation, he pinned Kaiba back against the wall and shaped his free hand into a fist.

Realizing what was about to happen, Mokuba rushed up to Joey's side and tried to hold him back. "Joey, don't! Please! Don't do it!" Mokuba pleaded to the angry young man. "I know what my brother said is wrong, but hurting him won't do all of us any good. Please, let go of my brother, Joey. Please…"

Hearing Mokuba's plea for him to stop, made Joey stop and finally realize what he had done. Immediately, his eyes widen and he just dropped his grip on Kaiba's collar and slowly backed up away from him. Regret began to fill and out came a stuttered apology. "L-look Kaiba. I didn't mean too…"

Without giving Joey a chance to explain himself, Seto Kaiba shouted, "You're fired!"

Joey was speechless. He didn't know what to do, but still he tried explaining himself, "Kaiba, I, I…"

"Shut it, Wheeler! You of all people should know that attempting to do physical harm towards a superior gets you terminated from your job. With that being said, leave! Or I will have my security "escort" you out."

Feeling defeated, Joey's head hung low and slowly he began making his way out towards the front door. Before he even had a chance to continue on, someone grabbed him by the arm and he stopped in mid-step. Turning around to see who was stopping him, Joey saw it was Mokuba Kaiba holding his arm. Giving the younger Kaiba a confused look, he says, "Mokuba, what are you doing?"

Not giving the blonde teen an answer, Mokuba guides Joey back towards his brother and stands firmly in front of Kaiba with his arms across the chest. One could tell, Mokuba was not too happy over everything that just transpired. "Big brother, Joey's termination is not valid."

It was now Kaiba's turn to have confused look. What is going on? How can Joey's termination not be valid? Kaiba needed to have some answers. "Mokuba, what is the meaning of this? Since I own the café, therefore I can fire Joey so long there is a valid reason."

Mokuba snorted and gave an "oh really?" look at his brother. "Big brother, you forgot something. You're not the owner of Kaiba Corporation Café. I am."

"What?" Kaiba thought aloud. "How can this be? How are you… How are you the owner?"

Rolling his eyes, Mokuba obviously displayed an annoyed look at Seto. "Look, Seto in case you have forgotten, I was the one who proposed Kaiba Corp should open a café. We agreed that you would provide the funds and materials to build it, but I would be one who owned the place. Since I'm the owner, you can't fire Joey without coming to me about it first." He flashed one of his infamous grins at Seto Kaiba knowing that he'd won this time.

Nothing could describe the look on Seto Kaiba's face. Humiliated, Kaiba couldn't stand to be in the presence of Joey Wheeler any longer. Grabbing his briefcase and long coat, Kaiba stormed out of the café.

Joey, on the other hand still couldn't quite process everything just yet cause, he was just fired and then unfired. To be honest, he wasn't even sure if he still had a job or not. Looking at Mokuba he asked, "So, am I still out of the job or… ?"

Once again, Mokuba rolled his eyes. "Joey, don't worry about it. You're still a barista here at the Kaiba Corporation Café and I wasn't going to give up my best worker." The grin on his face disappeared and a look of sadness appeared in its place. "I'm sorry about my brother's attitude. Please understand. Our childhood was terrible and it's partially the reason why he acts this way." The younger Kaiba knew this was the same excuse he used for the years with Yugi and his friends, but the truth, is the truth.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Actually, part of the fault is mine cause, I couldn't control my temper. I'm just glad ta still have my job, Mokuba. Thanks a bunch!"

"No problem, Joey." With that, Mokuba paid for the drinks and bid Joey goodbye.

 **Postscript**

Now, Joey is actually good friends with Mokuba and gets along with him just fine. In fact, it was Mokuba who helped Joey get a job as a barista at the café. For that, Joey was super grateful to Mokuba.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is story I wrote on whim before Thanksgiving and it's based off of actual artwork from Tower Records. To celebrate Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions, Tower Records is opening a Yu-Gi-Oh! themed café and on their website, the released a sample illustration of the café. In the picture, Joey is wearing a red shirt and he's actually one of the workers at the Kaiba Corporation Café. He is shown as being unhappy having to serve Seto Kaiba so I decided it would be cool to write a scene based on that image. As stated before, I wrote this on a whim and there are most likely A LOT of grammatical errors in this story. Please feel free to review and leave any constructive criticism since I strive to improve my writing. Yet, at the same time though please do not be super harsh. Anyways, take care everyone!**

 **~FOREVERADISNEYGIRL**


End file.
